Wake Up Wall Street: Dow Jones on Track for First Monthly Loss Since November

U.S. stock futures are declining and European stocks stumble as a wild first quarter comes to an end on Friday

Author:: Edward Hardy
Publish date:: Mar 31, 2017 7:01 AM EDT

This is what you need to know before the bell:

1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted modest gains on Thursday as financial stocks staged a slight rebound. The index has risen almost 5% in the quarter but remains on track for its first monthly loss since before the U.S. presidential election in November.

2. Verizon Communications (VZ) - Get Report has been securing streaming rights from television network owners in preparation for the nationwide launch of a live online TV service, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

3. Palmer Luckey, the co-founder of Oculus, the virtual reality startup bought by Facebook (FB) - Get Report about three years ago, is leaving the social network company. It was unclear whether Luckey is leaving voluntarily, with a spokesperson declining to specify

4. Sales at Chinese technology group Huawei rose almost one-third during 2016 while net profit rose just 0.4%, the smallest gain in five years, as a new focus on smartphone sales and preparations for the roll out of 5G networks left it with narrower margins.